8 May: annuals and finally a campfire

Friday, 8 May 2015

Today we had a big annuals project that consumed much of the day.

The Depot Restaurant

We checked on the Depot Restaurant garden first.

looks like the lattice is painted….

Emergency bucket watering was needed by the front entry.

I see we need to keep an eye on the garden as the sprinklers are not yet on due to the restaurant being painted.

assessed from the van that tulips in the barrel will hold it for a few more days…and drove on.

The Basket Case Greenhouse

Our mission was to pick up loads of Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’, yellow calibrachoas, and white bacopa for planting at Andersen’s RV Park.

lots of beautiful hanging baskets

Nancy’s basket creations

Calibrachoa ‘Vampire’

me and Nancy picking out some yellow Echinbeckias for Long Beach

some are yellow, some our orange (indicated in small letters on back of tag)

I’m trying the new echinbeckias, a cross between echinacea and rudbeckia, for the first time this year.

Andersen’s RV Park

The Andersen’s planting job, which involved Allan transferring soil from two old barrels to two new ones, and setting up the three painted planters (six actually, as they are stacked one on one for three displays), and both of us planting all the annuals, plumb wore me out so only two rather nondescript after photos were taken. Allan had left his camera at home.

the six barrels, planted (showing five, with the west RV parking in background)

three colourful planters in the poppy field, which needs weeding but we have no time.

Long Beach

On the way home from our dinner yesterday, I’d noticed under streetlights that the planters near NIVA green needed to have old bulb foliage removed, so we stopped to do that…

and noticed these California poppies and Tulip ‘Formosa’ in a nearby planter.

Then, at the welcome sign, we pulled out loads of dead bulb foliage and planted the echinbeckias, some Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’, and some yellow bidens (in front) and white bacopa (in back).  I did not use as many Butterfly as last year deadheading them was such a chore.  I do hope the echinbeckias are as showy and easier maintenance.

front side, no flowers as yet

back side, with the bacopa planted…still need to get taller plants in there.

That’s all we had time for as we had a social plan:  The weather was at last good enough to allow a campfire evening with our Kathleen.

at home

evening sunshine from the fire circle (with Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’)

Mary observing

dinner prep (sausages and whole wheat buns)

ah…at last the campfire we’d been hoping for, on the last evening of Kathleen’s vacation week.